I don't think I like you anymore
by eli.ferguson
Summary: After his brush with death Gaara is flooded with memories of one of his first friends who has openly admitted to loving him. One Shot. Gaara x OC. (This summary actually sucks because it's a one shot, but the story itself is pretty decent)


**So I woke up at 2 am today thinking about this short one shot... I thought it was really good and decided that I wanted to share it with you.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto or anything created by Masashi Kishimoto; I only own my OC(s) that appear in this story.**

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His eyes open to look at Naruto's face in shock; where was he? His friend smiles at him gently, a big difference from his normal idiotic grin that reminded the young Kazekage of the sun. He looks around and notices that he was surrounded by a large group of Sand shinobi with seven Konoha shinobi; all smiled at him and when he said he was okay erupted into tears and shouts of joy. That's when his eyes landed on Her. She sat in front of him, on her knees with her hands on her knees; her naturally wild brown hair pulled into a sloppy bun and her deep green eyes filled with unshed tears. He opens his mouth to say something to her when he was suddenly thrown back, his eyes widening when he heard sobbing from the Konoichi that now clinging to him, crying heavily into his chest.

"Gaara-kun!" She cried, her body shaking with the force of her sobs. "Gaara-kun, I thought I had lost you!" Neither of them noticed the indecent position they were in; her lying on top of him, between his legs, and his arm wrapped around her waist with his other supporting them. She moves her hands from his chest to cup his cheeks, her fingers brushing the back of his neck.

"Don't scare me like that every again, you jerk." She sobs; her voice as soft as it always was despite the pain she must be feeling. Leaning up she starts to kiss his face, first his eyes then his nose, his cheeks, his chin and lastly she kissed the kanji on his forehead, her lips hovering over it before he felt the tears drip onto his face.

"Don't ever leave me again. I don't care what anyone says," She sniffs and gives him a pathetic excuse for a glare. "I'm never leaving your side ever again… I leave for five… five minutes and you…" Her eyes start to water up with more tears, her lips barely able to form the words she obviously wanted to say. "You get into a fight… and… and get captured… and…" She punches him weakly on the shoulder before pulling him into another hug. "I'm never leaving your side again!"

He was suddenly taken back into his memories; had she ever left his side since he first met her?

_She punched him in the face, or at least attempted too; her clinched fist slammed into the sand which was aimed at his jaw. The sand, per to his request, started to wrap around her arm but tears she started to shed caused him to pause._

"_What did I do to make you hate me?" She finally asks, her tears causing her to choke on her question; he blinks inwardly with confusion before narrowing in suspicion. Her shoulders start to shake with her sobs and she looked dangerously close to falling onto her knees._

"_I don't love anyone." His voice gravely from being unused._

"_I'm not asking you to love me!" Her sudden outburst caused him to take a step back with shock; she seemed too passionate about her answer. She lowers her head and he could barely catch the words that left her lips. "I just want you to let me like you." When he didn't answer he watches her tongue dart out to lick her plush lips._

"_I… Everyone's scared of you… but I want to be your friend." She dares a glance up at him before dipping her head down again. "I know you don't want friends, you think their weak… but you don't have to let me be your friend… just… please, just let me think of you as a friend even… even if you don't think it."_

"_Why?" He finally asks, the sand slowly receding but she didn't seem to notice. _

"_Ah…" A blush touches her lips and she looks away, unwilling to make eye contact. "I don't know… I just want too?" Finally his sand pulls away and he frowns, his arms crossing over his chest._

"_I meant… Why did you try to punch me?" That caused an even bigger blush to form on her cheeks then the last one; inwardly he liked seeing that on her face, it meant he was making her uncomfortable and it gave him pleasure to know he could cause such a reaction._

"_Sometimes you hurt the ones you love to protect them." She quotes quietly causing him to frown. _

"_I don't understand." He demanded an explanation and her head jerks up to stare at him with wide eyes._

"_I … I don't either, honestly." A soft smile transforms her face from mediocre to extraordinary. "My father once told me that … sometimes when you love someone you unintentionally hurt them to show that you care."_

"_Your punch wasn't unintentional." He states, his unedifying logic coming into play as he studies her reactions; she blushes again. _

"_Ah… true… but I thought it was the best way to get your attention… was that wrong of me?" She seemed scared by his reaction and ducks her head to hide her face, her sloppy hair forming wild curls around her like a halo. He didn't answer, he already knew he wouldn't have looked twice at her, she looked weak but he had to admit it took great courage to try to attack him. Finally he decided that he should answer her before she dies of anxiety, although inwardly he wanted to see if that could happen._

"_You can claim me as a friend," He started, turning away from her slightly. "But know that I'll kill you if you piss me off." Her reaction was that of surprise, then, shockingly, happiness; he decided then and there that she was both weird and crazy._

"_H-hai! Thank you, Gaara-kun." The suffix caused his eyes to narrow but before he could respond someone started to yell from across the clearing. _

"_Hanako!" She turns, blinking strangely entrancing green eyes as she searches for the voice; she spots a thin looking boy before smiling brightly. She turns to Gaara and that smile softens although it doesn't lose the intensity._

"_I have to go; my team needs me for a mission." She glances back at the boy who kept his distance, his fear obvious. "Gaara-kun… even if you don't like me, I promise I'll always be by your side when you need me." _

_As if she knew already that he wasn't going to answer, unaware that he didn't KNOW how to answer, she turns and runs off to her teammate, stopping next to him only to wave at the shocked demon vessel before turning and running off to meet the rest of her team._

"Hanako… Chan…" He finally manages to say when her sobbing subsides, watching as her eyes widen and a slow, very unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it, blush formed on her cheeks. "Let's get up." She nods, pulling out of their rather embarrassing embrace before holding her hand out to him.

He declines the hand, he wanted to prove that he didn't need support only to stumble; he would have falling flat on his face if it wasn't for Naruto grabbing ahold of his elbow and Hanako rushing to his side, placing a delicate hand to the small of his back in case he fell backwards. When he was steady on his feet both of his friends step away from him, although Hanako hovered by his side; he looked at the Shinobi before telling them to pray for the soul they lost to revive him; everyone obliged happily although solemnly.

_Lady Chiyo, I know that we've never met and I know that we would never be the best of friends, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart that you brought Gaara-kun back to me._ She starts to pray, closing her eyes tight and clinching her hands together. _For saving his life… I want to wish you eternal happiness in the great life beyond; you deserve it so much more than anyone that I've ever met. May kami-san embrace you in his arms and may you never know pain and sorrow ever again. May you meet your loved ones that you may have lost and may you feel the joy and happiness that you deserve. _

When everyone was done they started to walk back to their village, walking slowly for his sake; he was momentarily shocked when he felt Hanako's hand slide into his, her grip tight as if he was going to disappear any moment. He looked down at her and caught her gaze, her eyes confused as to why he was looking at her; his eyes close with the memory of when she first touched him.

_She sat in the spiny chair that he had asked be put in his office, her legs laying on top of his lap as she read one of the many documents on his desk; he had only recently became Kazekage and there was much work to be done. He glances down at her legs that were way too relaxed before shifting his eyes over to their owner, watching as she chewed on the end of a pen with concentration._

"_Gaara-kun," Her voice pulled him from his examination as she looks up, "This one's about the increase in violence in the south side of town… it's requesting more shinobi to boarder the area at night to keep the villagers safe." _

_Slowly he took the paper from her, watching out of the corner of his eye as she scooted her chair closer to him, so close their arms brushed against each other as she reread the document in his hands over his shoulder. He focuses his eyes on the paper instead of her mystical eyes, only skimming it to confirm what she said. He started to sign his hand before his tongue slipped and he asked the question that was raging in his mind. _

"_Why are you touching me?" He didn't mean for it to sound so harsh and he was relieved when she didn't seem to take offense. _

"'_Couse your my friend, Gaara-kun." She didn't miss a beat in answering him as she reached past him to grab another document to read._

"_Hanako-san…" He starts, before he noticed how her head snaps in his direction._

"_Hana-Chan." She corrects coolly, a frown on her pink lips. "Or Hanako-Chan… not Hanako-san, we're friends." She didn't notice the blush that was trying to force its way to his cheeks and looks away after he nods slowly. _

"_Hanako-Chan." He confirms, turning his head away from her as he reaches for a new document. "Hanako-Chan…?" He glances at her when he feels his face was back to normal, making sure she was listening to him before continuing. "Why are you helping me…?"_

_She smiles, twirling the pen in her lips before looking up at the ceiling. "You just became Kazekage… and there's a lot of paper work… but you could be doing so much more than this." She looks up at him with an intensity he's over ever seen once before._

"_If you finish all of your paper work you could do something productive… Like walk around the village and show the villagers that you like them." She leans in close to him, placing a hand on the crook of his elbow. "People are scared of the unknown and right now you are unknown, despite being their Kazekage. If you show them that you're willing to get to know them they'll get to know you, thus being unscarred of you."_

_He gulps at how close she was to him and was relieved, yet somewhere deep inside disappointed, when she pulls away and goes back to reading the document in her hands. He looks down at the paper that had his partial signature before finishing it, dropping it into the slowly growing stack of finished work._

As they walked he stepped closer to her, an almost unnoticeable smile touching his otherwise emotionless face when she stepped closer to him in response. Now they walked, his arm brushing her side and hers doing the same, his arm resting in front of hers as their fingers entwine.

"_Gaara-kun?" He glances up at her, amusement dancing in his eyes at how childish she was acting; her head dangling off the couch as she sat upside down, her legs alternating between rising and falling._

"_Yes, Hanako-Chan?" He glances down at his work, scribbling his signature on it before going to a new one, there weren't a lot of paper work to do today so she wasn't helping and, as she said earlier, was bored out of her mind._

"_I don't think I like you anymore." Her words caused him to freeze and he was scared to look up at her, scared to see the rejection on her face as she told him she never wanted to see him ever again. "I think I love you." His head jerks up, blue eyes wide as he watched her smile slowly; she places a delicate hand on her stomach and gazes up at the ceiling._

"_My father said that when you love someone you'll know…" She starts, as if she was only thinking aloud. "You get butterflies in your stomach when they're around… and it makes you feel all warm and fluffy inside but at the same time makes you want to throw up your lunch," She pauses in thought before giggling. "Even if you haven't eaten lunch yet."_

"_That's how I feel when I'm with you, Gaara-kun, and it's okay if you don't return those feelings I just wanted to let you know how I feel." She looks at him with the gentlest, most understanding smile he's ever seen. "You're very special to me and I don't want to lose your friendship so if you don't like me like that you don't have to say anything," She looks back up at the ceiling, her eyes drifting closed. "I'll be happy as long as you're happy…"_

He stops walking so suddenly she was jerked to a stop, turning to face him with the most innocently confused face he's ever seen. Everyone else stopped too, looking at their beloved Kazekage with as much confusion as the girl next to him, wondering if he was weaker than he let on.

"Gaara-kun?" She asks, her eyebrows furrowing and her lips pulling into a small frown.

"Hanako-Chan… I… don't think I like you anymore." He watched as her eyes widen, her mouth opening into a silent gasp. Her hand tightened in his and her eyes watered as he leans forward to bump their foreheads together.

"I think I love you…" He gives her a rare smile before pressing his lips against her; he was faintly aware of gasps and cheers from the surrounding Shinobi.

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**Nea~ So kawaii *Sighs gently* I know it might be a little OOC on Gaara's part... and if people are confused (i'm sure you are) This is after Naruto saves Gaara from the akatsuki and after Chiyo brought him back to life... episode like... 30(?)-something of Shippuden... Eh, all I know is that it's called "Legacy"**

**Anyways, tell me what you think, please? Thank you!**


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